It's not really ambient or soul, but it is The Dining Rooms, and this CD does venture into new territory. Like most experiments, not every track is successful. But the Italian duo fit rather comfortably into a different sound where everything is sung in English.

1. No Problem
2. Diamonds & Comforts
3. Afrolicious
4. Driving
5. Milano Calibro 9
6. Destination Moon
7. Il girotondo dei grandi
8. Within
9. Forever's Not
10. Experiments In Ambient Soul
11. Thin Ice
12. The World She Made
13. U

Here the beats are often heavier and faster than on past Dining Rooms releases, and they have added hip-hop on a few tracks. After the duo's release of so much sterling downtempo, some may feel their trademark lush, quiet melodies have received short shrift.

The Dining Rooms' style goes well with the hip-hop tracks however, which are done with female voices for a smoother sound. "Diamonds and Comforts" and "Within" place the spoken words of Channeng against the singing of Clover over a proto-jazz backup for duets that shouldn't work, but somehow do.

Maria Collica's sultry vocals are featured on the lounge track "Thin Ice" and the pop-jazz of "Forever’s Not".

Vocalist Sean Martin is much less successful on the three tracks where he appears. "Destination Moon" works for its quirkiness, with nonsensical lyrics sung in a near falsetto. "Driving" is a low point, though, with lines like "All I know is that I need someone to set me free". Martin lacks the style to carry off these lyrics. If only he were Dean instead of Sean.

Most of the nu-jazz instrumentals are led by Don Freeman on electric keyboards. He ranges from the funk of "Afrolicious" to a minimalist approach on the title cut. He also proves to be a more than credible singer on the subdued "The World She Made". Paolo Milanesi adds low-key trumpet to a few tracks, and there are "real" musicians on guitar, bass, and drums instead of samples on many tracks, producing a more organic vibe.

This is an Experiment in jazz rather than ambient and soul, perhaps not quite reaching the beauty of earlier Dining Rooms records, but still a welcome addition to their discography.

~ Dave Howell

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